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Warner urges media to improve standards

Chaguanas West Member of Parliament (MP) Jack Warner has made several recommendations to the media toward improving standards.

Speaking in Parliament during the debate on the amendment to abolish Section 9 of the Libel and Defamation Act, Warner complimented the Opposition MPs on their recommendations to Government and gave seven of his own, three of which were directed to the media.

“To the media I ask them to bring the issue of defamation into the public domain by explaining the negative consequences of criminal defamation laws. Secondly I ask the media to maintain high ethical standards as a tool to increase their standings in public opinion and last, work to strengthen the influence of the organisations of the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) and the Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association,” he said.

Warner, who said he was part of a team that attempted to muzzle the media while sitting on the Government benches, made recommendations to the Government and also asked whether the media and other stakeholders were consulted on the amendment before it was brought to Parliament.

“I ask, did you consult MATT, did you consult the Publishers and Broadcasters Association, did you consult the Law Association, did you get the feedback, because unless you get as wide as possible a view from the public that is not democracy.”